Fallout 4 – How to Build and Manage Your Settlement Guide

You can run a settlement freely but for this you need to play an active role. For multiple settlements you need to be a careful planner. Buildings look cool and fun with Workshops. In order to build this you just need to open Workshop menu and select the desired item.

For effective and good management you need to work hard. If you want good settlements then you need the following perks.

Local Leader:

At Rank 1 this grants ability to establish supply lines between your settlements. At rank 2 you can build stores and workstations found in workshop menu.

Hacker:

At rank 1 this perk is required to build terminals. Terminals can interact with a variety of devices, but they are most useful when combined with switches.

Science:

Rank 1 of this Intelligence-based perk is required to build large generators, industrial water purifiers, laser tripwires, and many other particularly handy items. If you want to build heavy laser turrets than you need rank 3.

Gun Nut:

Rank 3 of this Intelligence-based perk is required to build missile turrets.

Before start construction of a building, always consider your goals. Look for ways to exploit the terrain or utilize existing structures. Imagine the completed settlement before you place so much as a floor panel.

What you Need to Build

If you have the required materials, construction process can be completed in the wink of an eye. But there are some questions like where you should you build an item? Where should you build it? Is it the best use of materials? And etc. answers to these questions can be determined by your specific goals. Here are the some steps that can minimize your time spent, effort and materials.

Scrap

After taking control of settlement, open the workshop menu and search the area for items to scrap. If you feel an item adds to a settlement’s aesthetic, by all means, keep it. Otherwise, scrap it for materials. After you finish with scrap, it’s time to decide what to do with the useable items.

Build Small and Existing Buildings First

Start from small and take care of your materials. Building a big bunkhouse is for few settlers is not the good use of your precious material. If you can spare the materials for massive projects, it’s usually best to improve a settlement a bit at a time.

Try building on or around existing structures when you need to save space or reduce construction costs. When space is at a premium, consider building raised platforms or narrow, multistory structures to leave enough room for crops and water pumps.

Start From Scratch

Whenever you have doubt about structure, there is always an option to start all over from scratch. It is much easier to modify a structure built from scratch. Rearrange walls, floors, and roofs to change a building’s layout, or build new pieces to turn a humble shack into an ornate tower. Use shack foundations to level rocky terrain. Structure gives sleek look when start on these versatile floor pieces.

Resources You Have

Running a settlement is totally depends on your choice but your residents do expect a certain level of comfort and security. Here are some factors that determine the state of a settlement.

People: The number of people living

Food: The amount of food produced

Water: The amount of water produced

Power: The amount of power produced

Defense: The defensive strength

Beds: The number of beds

Happiness: The overall happiness of a settlement’s residents

People

A settlement’s population determines the amount of food and water. It needs time and effort to fulfil their needs, but your people also serve as a valuable resource. Many workshop items needs a worker. People without assigned tasks automatically generate salvage, so a large, happy population can provide a steady stream of building materials. You can increase population by building recruitment beacons at key locations. You can also recruit people that you meet during your travels. Speak to settlers to receive available quests, hear about their concerns, or initiate trades.

A well settled settler is very effective in combat. You can command a specific settler by using Workshop menu. You can also command a settler to walk to a specific spot or relocate to a different workshop settlement. You can assign a settler to supply line by investing in the Local Leader perk. Settlers you assign to supply lines become provisioners, moving back and forth along their assigned routes.

If you want to cancel a supply line, then give a different task to its provisioner. But remember you cannot assign people in your settlements to specific tasks.

Food

A settlement’s Food rating reflects how much food a settlement produces.it is good to maintain a Food rating that’s at least as high as a settlement’s current population. If you want to increase food rating then you just need to plant and grow crops.

A single worker can generate up to 6 Food, and he or she can tend any combination of crops that doesn’t exceed this limit. Crops can be attacked and they are the favorite target of enemy in raids. Use workshop menu to repair damaged crops to resume food production.

Water

A settlement’s Water rating reflects how much water a settlement produces. Your settlers expect a Water rating that’s at least as high as the current population. Water shortage can make settlers less productive.

You don’t need to assign workers for water producing items. You just need to build a water pump to increase a settlement’s water rating. Like crops, water pumps and water purifiers are susceptible to damage. Use the Workshop menu to make repairs as needed.

Power

A settlement’s Power rating indicates how much power a settlement produces. You need to provide sufficient power to connected devices to function, but your settlers will be satisfied with any power rating. In order to attach wires to devices like generators, connectors and switches you need to use Workshop menu.

You need 1 Copper to create a wire. If you want to remove any unwanted wire then again use Workshop menu. Generators are favorite targets during raids so place key generators safely out of sight and use the Workshop menu to make repairs as needed.

Defense

A settlement’s Defense rating represents the combined strength of its defensive items. It should be at least as high as its current population. Less defense rating will increase the odds of a settlement being attacked. Guard posts are easy to build because they just need wood and steel and they provide decent cover from enemy fire.

A single guard assigned to three posts produces 6 Defense. If you can spare the space and materials, build an artillery piece to boost a settlement’s Defense and improve the coverage of your artillery support.

Turrets are automated so if you have a decent amount of materials than building a turret is a good option because this is the simplest way to raise defense rating. Traps break each time they’re triggered, and they’ll damage any friendly units within range.

You can install a switch between a trap and its power source to control exactly when it’s triggered. Turrets can be damaged so use Workshop menu in order to repair them.

Maintaining an appropriate Defense rating will cut down on enemy raids, but every settlement is likely to be attacked from time to time.

Beds

A settlement’s Beds rating simply indicate how many beds are located in the area. You can have one bed per resident. There are many beds available in Workshop menu but they all serve the same function. To keep your settlers happy, it’s important to place each bed under some sort of roof. If you place them outside it won’t affect your bed rating but reduce your settler’s happiness and productivity.

Happiness

A settlement’s Happiness rating indicates the residents’ overall satisfaction. You can increase your productivity by keeping your settlers happy and contented. You should meet their basic needs if you want to keep them happy.

Provide enough food, water, and beds for all of your residents, and make sure a settlement’s Defense rating meets or exceeds expectations. Actively helping a settlement also improves its Happiness rating. Monitor Radio Freedom and check your Pip-Boy for updates and alerts about the settlements you control.

There are also some items like clinics, clothing stores, trading stores, and stores that sell food and drink increase your residents Happiness rating.